Work on flood prevention scheme halted by council

Aberdeenshire Council has announced that work on the Stonehaven Flood Protection Scheme will be halted.

The decision follows UK and Scottish Government guidelines regarding the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

On Friday a review took place on the site to make sure it was secure and all necessary flood protection measures were in place before work was stopped.

The scheme is being designed to protect homes and businesses which have previously been affected by flooding from the River Carron.

The council says it will provide a standard of protection well above the current Association of British Insurers requirements and will reduce flood risk to 372 residential properties, 2 public utility sites, a school and an emergency service site.

A spokesperson for contractors McLaughlin and Harvey said: “We have been communicating regarding the evolving situation we find ourselves in relating to COVID-19.

“At the forefront of all our minds is the health and wellbeing of our families and colleagues and we have tried to ensure working practices protected employees whilst our site remained open.

“We have now agreed to a ‘pause’ in the works to align with the rest of society and close down for a period to lessen the impact of this virus.”

The company also confirmed that a small project team will remain on site to carry out security checks and deal with any adverse weather during the hiatus.

Aberdeenshire Council’s principal engineer Rachel Kennedy commented: “Whilst we would like to see the scheme progress, we fully accept that the safety of residents in Stonehaven as well as those working to protect the local community must come first.”